The Boomer’s Crushing Last Hurrah

It’s simple mathematics: the demographic Baby Boom began in 1946 and lasted until about 1964. Because of their size, this generation has affected each phase of life they’ve moved through in massive ways.

They’re about to do it again: if you add 65 to 1946 you get 2011. As of January 1 of this year, the 79 million member Boom Generation began being eligible for full Medicare benefits, while also beginning their mass exodus of 10,000 people a day from the workforce onto the Social Security rolls — this will continue unabated for the next two decades!

No longer paying into the system, they will begin sucking it dry, undoubtedly accelerating these entitlements’ day of reckoning. A group devoted to being child-like forever will now be the elderly. Will they help the nation make adult decisions about fixing or replacing the system, or will they selfishly pass their grandkids the bill consistent with their infamous narcissism? This generation got its name by merely showing up, but history will ultimately judge them and our nation on the decisions made on their way out.